No. 6 Arizona pulls away to beat Arizona State behind Boswell's 17 points
TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — Kylan Boswell scored 17 points, Oumar Ballo had 14 points and 13 rebounds and No. 6 Arizona pulled away late to beat Arizona State 85-67 on Wednesday night.
Arizona (22-6, 13-4 Pac-12) swept the regular-season series from its in-state rival. This game was a much more competitive contest — the Wildcats won 105-60 at home over the Sun Devils on Feb. 17.
Boswell shot 7 of 9 from the field, including 3 of 4 from 3-point range. The 17 points were the most he's scored since he had 18 in a season-opening win against Morgan State. Caleb Love added 16 points.
Arizona State (14-15, 8-10) shot just 29% from the field in the first half and couldn't quite recover.
The Sun Devils trailed by 14 points at halftime but quickly cut the margin to 52-47 with 12:01 left. The game stayed tight until the final minutes, when Arizona hit six of seven shots over a five-minute span to pull away.
Adam Miller led Arizona State with 16 points. Frankie Collins added 15 but shot just 4 of 18 from the field.
The Wildcats were in command the entire first half and never trailed, jumping out to an early 13-3 lead in the first five minutes after hitting three 3-pointers. Arizona would extend its advantage to 28-12 by midway through the half and settle for a 41-27 lead into the halftime break.
BIG PICTURE
Arizona: The Wildcats looked a little wobbly one month ago, but now they've won eight of nine and are leading the Pac-12 race. It wasn't the prettiest performance, but any win over an in-state rival — particularly on the road — is a good one.
Arizona State: The Sun Devils have plenty of athleticism and play hard, but struggled once again with shooting. They could be a tricky opponent during the Pac-12 tournament with their high-energy approach, but they'll need to shoot better than they did on Wednesday.
UP NEXT
Arizona: Host Oregon on Saturday.
Arizona State: At Southern California on March 7.
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AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball